Electric-arc lamp



(No Model.)

H. LEMP.

ELECTRIC ARC LAMP.

No. 369,456. Patented Sept, 6, 1887.

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A T TORNE Y N. PETERS, Phoh-L'ihu nphor. Wnhingiun. D. C,

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IIERMANN LEMI, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE SCHUYLER ELECTRIC MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF CONNECTICUT.

ELECTRlC-ARC' LAMP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 369,456, dated September 6, 1887.

Application filed June 3, 1886. Serial No. 203,984. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I,HERMANN LEMP,a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of C011- necticut, have invented certain new and useful Electric-Arc Lamps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in electric-arc lamps of the class in which the carbon is fed by the action of gravity or a spring, and is controlled in its movements by the operationof a clock-work, a clutch, or other mechanism,which is released at the same time that the carbon is fed, so that gravity or other force may move the carbon toward the other carbon.

The object of my invention is to provide a means whereby an arc may be reformed in case the carbon may overfeed, so as to make contact 2 with the opposite carbon.

The invention further relates to certain com binations of devices designed for application to that class of electriclampsin which the carbon is lifted to form the are by one magnet whose parts retain afixed position during operation of the lamp, while the feeding move ment is under the control of a separately and independently-acting derived-circuit magnet.

The invention consists in the combination,

with the main-circuit coil,by which the carbonsupporting lever is lifted and sustained normally in lifted position, of a shunt-circuit for throwing said magnet temporarily out of action, said shunt-circuit being governed by two circuit closers or controllers, one of which is closed when the main-circuit magnet is excited, while the other is open so long as the lamp burns with a normal are, but is immediately closed in case the carbons come together. The

0 latter circuit-controller is preferably governed by the action of a magnet whose coil is in a shunt around the carbons and whose armature or movable core serves to hold the points of the circuit-controller apart. In case, however,

4 5 the carbons come together, the derived-circuit magnet loses its power and the circuit-con- My invention consists, also, in other details 7 of constructions and combinations of parts, that will be described, in connection with the accompanying drawing, and then specified in the claims.

The accompanying drawing illustrates in side elevation the parts of an electric lamp involved in carrying out my invention.

\V indicates the upper-carbon carrier, which is geared to a feed-regulating mechanism consisting of a clock-work sustained on a suitable frame or lever, A, pivoted at D. Connected to said clock-work is the usual escapementwheel provided with an escapementlever, h, which serves to retard the downward movement of the carbon-carrier. The clockwork and retarding device may be of any desired construction, that herein illustrated being shown simply to illustrate the principle of the invention.

The lever A, which is pivoted at D, is actuated by an electromagnet, M, whose coils are in the circuit to the carbons in any usual way. I have shown said magnet as provided with a movable core, B, connected to the lever A, though it is obvious that other forms of magnet might be employed.

The escapement-lever h is provided with an extensiomp, adapted to engage with a detentlever, f, which is pivoted at E to the frame carrying the clockwork of the lamp, and is provided with an armature, 9, that is operated by an electro-magnet, S, whose coils are in a derived circuit around the carbons, as shown.

The detent-lever f is provided with a spring, t, which is connected at one end to an arm, m, rising from the lever A, and at the other end is connected to said detent-lever.

The detent-stop a, sustained from any suitable portion of the frame-work of the lamp, is placed in position opposite the end of lever f, so that when the lever A drops at its end connected to the core B the dctent-lever f will engage with said step and will release the escapement-lever h, thus allowing the carboncarrier W to descend.

The electro-magnet S is provided with an armature lever, K, which, when retracted, closes the contacts of a circuit-closer of any suitable construction. (Indicatedatd) When the magnet is active through the diversion of current to its coils by the formation of an are,

the armature K is raised and circuit is broken at the contacts (I.

In the same circuit controlled by contacts dare the contacts of another circuit-controller. (Indicated at c.) The latter may consist of two springs, as shown, and is operated by the main-circuit magnet M in such way that the circuit shall be closed at 0 when said magnet is active.

To operate the circuit-controllerc, I employ simply a rod or bar extending from the core 13 and arranged to impinge against the lower of the two springs at c. The circuit controlled by these two devices is a derived circuit or shunt around the coils of magnet M, as clearly indicated, the path of the current being from point a through contacts 0, through contacts (I, armaturelever K, and to a wire connecting with the upper carbon of the lamp in any usual way. This circuit may be of any desired resistance, but should be sufficiently low to permit current to be diverted from the coils M to such extent that the core B will fall away when such circuit is closed.

The operation of the lamp would be as follows: lVhen no current is passing, the lever A rests by its weight and the weight of the core B against any suitable stop, 0, in which position the detent-leverf is disengaged from the escapenient h through contact of the lever with the stop 0. The carbons are thus allowed to feed together, the wheel engaging with the carbon-carrier being free to revolve. When the branch around M is open at contacts 0, the current is turned on, and the lever A is lifted by the maincircuit magnet, thus withdrawing leverf from contact with stop 6, and locking the escapemcnt h, so that the upper carbon is lifted to form the are. As the carbons sepa rate, more current flows in the coils of derivedcircuit magnet S, and the lever K is immediately lifted, inasmuch as its retractor is of low power. The path for any current around magnet M is thus opened at contacts (1, and the parts are so adjusted that this shall occur be fore the core of M rises sufliciently to close contact at c. The contacts 0 are finally closed as the core of M rises; but, as will be seen, the branch around M cannot close during the starting of the lamp, and is left open until the power of S is abnormally weakened by the coming together of the carbons. The movement of the lever A also brings the armature 9 into proximity to the pole of the shunt-magnet S. The are being thus formed, the "feeding takes place by the operation of the lever f, actuated by the derived-circuit magnet S in obvious manner, the core of magnet B in the meantime maintainingits position and holding the lever A up. If for any reason the carbons should come together, the current being shortcireuited from the magnet S, the latter will loose its hold on the armature K, which dur ing normal operation is held up, and the latter will fall back, thus completing the branch around magnet M. The core 13 will thereupon fall, and the branch around the magnet M being ruptured at c, the core and lever A will be raised again, thus lifting the carbon-carrier. This action will be repeated until the are has attained such a length that the armature K will be raised again, so as to rupture the branch at contacts (I. It willbe seen by this arrangement no current passes through the branch and the contacts of the circuit-controllers governing the same, excepting under the abnormal conditions which require the action of such devices in order to reseparate the can bons in case of over-feed, and even when this action occurs the contacts at which the brake takes place and where the spark forms are thus governed by the powerful main-circuit magnet. The devices also possess the additional advan tage that, during the action of the main-circuit magnet in reforming the are in case of overfeed, a flashing or intermission of the light will occur at the carbon points through the repeated lifting actions, and notice will thus be given that the lamp is defective. It will also be observed that the power required to raise the armature K from position of rest will be less than that required to sustain, because in the latter position the armature is nearer the core; hence, although it might require contact of the carbons or very close approxt mation of the same before the magnet S would be weakened sui'liciently to let go its armature it would nevertheless require a considerable separation of the carbons to strengthen the magnet so far that its armature would be drawn up and put an end to the action of the magnetin raising the frame N in the operation ofre-forming an are.

I do not limit myself to any particular form of magnets or any particular constructions of circuit-controllers, the invention consisting in the combinations of magnets and circuits governed by said magnets in the manner hereinbcfore described.

It is obvious that the invention is not limited to a lamp in which a clock-work is employed, but might be used for a lamp having other kinds of feed-controlling devices supported by lever A and engaging with the carbon-carrier.

\V hat I claim as my invention is 1. The combination, in an electric lamp, of a lifting magnet, a circuit by which said magnet may be rendered inactive, and two circuit-controllers governing said circuit, one of said controllers being operated by saidliftingmagnet and closed while the current iiows through the carbons, while the other is governed by the action of current in a derived circuit around the carbons and is normally open while the are is formed, but is closed through diversion of current from its governing-magnetwhen the carbons come together.

2. The combination,in an electric-are lamp, of a main-circuit lifting-magnet for separating the carbons, a short circuit around the main circuit magnet, a circuit-controller governing said. circuit, a derived-circuit magnet acting on said circuit-controller during normal action of IIO the .lamp, in the manner described, so as to hold the same in proper position to keep the short circuit around the main-circuit magnet open, and a retractor adjusted below the normal power of said derived-circuit magnet.

3. The combination,in an electric-arclamp, of a maincircuit lifting-magnet for separating the carbons to form the arc, a circuit-controller governing the operation of said magnet, and a derived-circuit magnet operating on the circuitcontrollenin the manner described, so as to hold the same during normal action of the lamp in proper position for keeping said main-circuit magnet in action, and a retractor for moving the circuit-controller into proper position for throwing the main-circuitmagnet out of action when current is shunted from the derived-circuit magnet by the comingtogether of the carbons, said retractor being adjusted below the normal power of the derived-circuit magnet.

4. The combination, in an electric-arclamp, of a main-circuit lifting-magnet for holding the carbons apart, a derived-circuit magnet, a branch around the main-circuit magnet, and an armature-lever for the derived-circuit magnet, which lever closes said branch when on its back-stop.

5. The combination, with the main-circuit lifting-magnet, of a derived-circuit magnet, armature-lever therefor, a retractor adjusted to withdraw the armature when the carbons come together, and a back electrical contactstop for the armature-lever connected to a branch around the main-circuit magnet.

6. The combination, with the main-circuit magnet and the derived-circuit magnet, of a branch around the main-circuit magnet and two circuit-controllers placed in series with one another in the branch, one governed by the main-circuit magnet and normally closed during action of the lamp and the other governed by the derived-circuit magnet and normally open during operation of the lamp.

7. The combination, in an electric-arclamp, of a carbon-supporting lever carrying a wheel gearing with the carbon, a detent-lever controlling the movement of said wheel and pivoted on the carbon-supporting lever, and a derived-circuit magnet whose armature is carried by said detent-lever.

8. The combination, in an electric-arclamp, of a carbon-supporting lever carrying a feedregulating mechanism, a main-circuit magnet for actuating said lever to form the arc, a detent-lever supported on the first-named lever, and a derived-circuit magnethaving an armature carried by the detent-lever, as and for the purpose described.

9. The combination, in an electric-arclamp, of a main-circuit magnet for forming the arc and a derived-circuit magnet having two armatures, a feed-controlling device governed by one of said armatures, a retractor for the same adjusted to permit the armature to move only on an abnormal increase of current in the derived-circuit magnet, controller-contacts governing the main-circuit magnet and operated by the second armature, and a retractor for the latter armature adjusted to permit the armature to be held up during normal action of the lamp.

10. The combination, in an electric lamp, of a detent-lever sustained on the carbon-supporting lever or frame, a fixed stop for disengaging said lever when the frame or lever is depressed,an armature carried by said detentlever, and a derived-circuit magnet acting on said armature.

Signed at Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, this 24th day of May, A. D. 1886.

HERMANN LEMP.

Witnesses:

O. O. STIRLING, OLOF OFFRELL. 

